BUSINESS

Georgia Film Academy Directs Action!

By Marcia Caller Jaffe

When Georgia’s $10 million film industry came to a halt at the onset of the pandemic, Jeffrey Stepakoff, the awardwinning executive director of the Georgia Film Academy, took action. He tapped into the school’s state-of-the-art technology to amp up its online education capabilities and to support a sustainable entertainment industry, Stepakoff and his team developed the first-ever COVID Compliance Course, https://www.georgiafilmacademy.online/.

“The GFA is committed to putting Georgians back to work in the film and entertainment industry through this industry-standard course,” Stepakoff said. “We intend to add value to productions with safety protocols based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Georgia Department of Public Health.”

Aguair LLC, a Marietta company that produces sanitizing products to help

Georgia Film Academy trains students for careers in the entertainment industry in the state.

Free to film and television production workers, casts, and crew, the CCC will help push Georgia’s multi-billion-dollar film industry closer to relaunching during the pandemic with a virtual training program of safety and sanitation best practices and procedures for anyone who prevent COVID-19, last month donated two pieces of advanced disinfectant

Jeff Stepakoff and his team developed the first-ever COVID Compliance Course for the entertainment industry.

works on a film set in Georgia.

The CCC holds true to GFA’s founding goal of building a workforce pipeline for Georgians into the state’s growing film industry. The two-part course may be presented entirely online for employ

Sanitization Company Donates Equipment to Nonprofit

ees and on-site for producers, showrunequipment to City of Refuge, a 23-yearold faith-based organization on Atlanta’s Westside that helps individuals and families transition out of crisis.

Beyond providing food, shelter and health care to women and children, the campus includes a Workforce Innovation Hub, which offers mentoring and training focused on job readiness and job placement. Multiple programs are offered in coding, automotive, culinary arts, customer service, security and health care.

“The donation provides another key to the puzzle in keeping our students safe as they step onto our campus and start their journey towards light, hope and life transformation” said Scott Steiner, City of Refuge’s vice president of strategy and development.

Itamar Kleinberger, co-founder of Aguair, said of the July 29 donation, “The City of Refuge is a longstanding institution in our great city, and it provides invaluable service to some of the most vulnerable members of our society. It is an honor to be able to donate SaniCart™ and ClensAir™ to the City of Refuge to help protect students and staff at the Innovation Hub as well as the residents at this facility.”

SaniCart™ is a mobile, micro-fogging surface and air sanitization system. When paired with EPA-approved disinfectants, it kills pathogens, including coronaviruses, by fogging the air and covering surfaces in a few minutes. It ners and key personnel. The course is comprised of instructional videos. The first component addresses basic safety and sanitation procedures for working on set. The second component is a series of shorter, craft-specific videos. Graduates receive certificates of completion from GFA and a handbook of recommended protocols and procedures.

Created in 2015 to put Georgians to work in all aspects of the state’s film industry, Stepakoff and his team have grown the GFA from its initial pilot program of 193 students in three institutions to thousands of students of all ages enrolled in campuses and training facilities in 22 institutions throughout the state.

From content creation, to production and filmmaking, GFA teaches a variety of skills to ensure there is a knowledgeable and educated workforce that can grow as Georgia’s film industry continues to expand into the future.

Itamar Kleinberger presents sanitizing equipment to Scott Steiner of City of Refuge.

uses an automated process that works by rolling the cart into a room and pressing the start button to deliver the disinfectant.

ClensAir™ is an air purifier that uses a six-layer purification process to remove viruses, bacteria, mold, allergens and other impurities from the air, including coronaviruses. It can be used in any enclosed area, particularly high traffic, to reduce airborne spread of pathogens.

Some national users of Aguair’s sanitization equipment include Del Monte Foods, CVS, Boys & Girls Clubs and Ecolab, as well as small businesses such as dental offices, spas and wellness centers, restaurants and lounges and educational institutions. ì